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Pylon80

Custom Stencils to Paint Wheel Sidewalls?

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Hi all, I would like to make stencils to paint F1 tire sidewalls. Some companies offer some online laser cutting services. I was wondering if anyone had done something like this before, which material they had used for the stencil (stainless, Milar, aluminium?...).

I would think PS paint is flexible enough and sticks hard enough to anything you spray it on to be used for this purpose. The goal would be to actually run these wheels, not just look at them :). Also F1 wheels have a "faux" sidewall that is there for the scale looks: it make the tire look fatter and the rim look smaller, but actually covers some of the rim and therefore does not really flex when you corner... so it should be feasible.

Finally I believe some folks like @Truck Norris cut their own vinyl stencils (and the result is stunning :o) but I am more interested in a reusable stencil that I could wash with acetone after spraying. Metal "photo etched" stencils are sometimes used for static models these days like 1/20 scale F1's for example.

Marc

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I'd test the paint before you spend any money getting stencils made. I tried PS and it didn't stick well at all... :( 

tyre-paint-vs-vinyl.thumb.jpg.74f0c8fe75a3af6eaa49217b5d0cebd8.jpg

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27 minutes ago, Truck Norris said:

I'd test the paint before you spend any money getting stencils made. I tried PS and it didn't stick well at all... :( 

tyre-paint-vs-vinyl.thumb.jpg.74f0c8fe75a3af6eaa49217b5d0cebd8.jpg

Thanks for the feedback then! Have you been successful with any other sort of paint then?

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On 8/17/2021 at 9:07 PM, Pylon80 said:

Thanks for the feedback then! Have you been successful with any other sort of paint then?

In my experience, no paint will work as they tyres flex and heat up too much. Even on real cars, they have to be touched up regularly unless moulded in color rubber. 

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@Pylon80, couple of options you could try.

1). I use Calliegraphics from the States a fair but for Plane stuff. She makes things including stencils for a reasonable price and does custom work at the drop of a hat, or

2). You could brush some matt paint over top of the existing Tamiya decals. Makes them blend right in. I used a bottle of vallejo matt acrylic and it's hanging in there nicely. As you say the F1 tyres don't seem to flex. Apologies if you've already done this before.

Hope this helps?

Kurt

20210822_164141.jpg

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Stencils for RC Tires?

 

 

That coud be a nice Community Service.

I want sone Firestone Decals for my Clod and my Dagger.

Stencils would be perfect, sadly the Stencils that i have are way to big....

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14 hours ago, Beetlemankurt said:

@Pylon80, couple of options you could try.

1). I use Calliegraphics from the States a fair but for Plane stuff. She makes things including stencils for a reasonable price and does custom work at the drop of a hat, or

2). You could brush some matt paint over top of the existing Tamiya decals. Makes them blend right in. I used a bottle of vallejo matt acrylic and it's hanging in there nicely. As you say the F1 tyres don't seem to flex. Apologies if you've already done this before.

Hope this helps?

Kurt

20210822_164141.jpg

Thank you sir. I will try that. Decals for tires always made me chuckle since they would obviously peel off very fast if you tried to run the car. Painting clear over them seems like the ticket.

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No problem. Mine haven't had any issues sticking so far (wiped the sidewalls with isopropyl alcohol first before sticking them on) but I wasn't a fan of the shiny look of the decal that screamed out it was a decal compared with the matt look of the rubber sidewall. The matt clear over the decal sorted that nicely. Hope it works well for ya and they last for a while.

Cheers

Kurt

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